Judge awards suitcase with “no monetary value” to daughter after her mother’s death in 1993
A 29-year-long inheritance dispute over a purple suitcase full of precious family photos and archives has finally been resolved.
The dispute was between Judith Andersson, 76, and her brother’s widow Diane Ward, 77, over the possession of the suitcase which was filled with family pictures and archived papers owned by Andersson’s mother, Frieda Ward.
The longstanding dispute resulted in a total of £70,000 in legal costs, despite the suitcase holding no monetary value. However, the papers and pictures are said to hold a record of the family’s history, who founded the iconic American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem.
The five-star hotel, which is partly owned by Andersson and Diane, has been a hot spot for celebrities such as Sir Winston Churchill, Bob Dylan, and played host to Lawrence of Arabia.
After Frieda’s death in 1993 the possession of the suitcase fell to Tim Ward, Andersson’s brother, but following his, and the other brother, John’s, death, Andersson has fought to regain the suitcase.
Diane and her son, Peter, were made executors of Tim’s will, but the suitcase was not given to Andersson, who then sued the sister-in-law for refusing to hand the suitcase over.
During the trial Andersson told the judge:
“It was specifically anticipated that the last one of us remaining alive would hold the archive…that the archive would remain with one of us.”
Her barrister, Oliver Ingham, said the suitcase is an “invaluable repository of her family history” and has “potential historic interest, given the family links to the British presence in Israel”.
Elissa Da Costa-Waldman, who represented Diane and Peter, claimed that following Frieda’s death the three siblings chose which of the possessions they would take control of, and Tim chose the suitcase filled with the memorabilia.
Judge Mark Raeside KC agreed that the suitcase should be given to Andersson as the suitcase was for the three siblings to own, and due to the brother’s deaths, it was “Judith’s time to benefit” from the archives.
The judge also rejected Diane and Peter’s request to obtain one of the photos in the suitcase as he stated:
‘The proper approach is that the whole of the archive shall not be divided up. Each of Judith’s siblings has had the benefit of it during their lifetime and it is now Judith’s time to have it.”
Judge Raeside gave the pair 21 days to hand over the suitcase, but the suitcase would be given to Diane and Peter on Andersson’s death.
The judge also ordered Diane and her son to pay both their, and Andersson’s legal costs, as they had several chances to resolve the case outside of court and had “behaved unreasonably”.
